What went wrong? How did Dortmund fall behind 5 other Bundesliga teams, while losing less, allowing less goals, and having a superior goal differential? It is all explained when you look at a single statistic, ties. BVB finished with the second most ties in the Bundesliga at 14. So obviously the Schwarzgelben had the ability to keep up and match that of any other club in the Bundesliga, as they scored an equal amount of goals or more than their opponents in 29 of their 34 (85%) games. And this is where the limiting reagent hindered BVB’s success in 2008.

The reagent was simply the inability to finish. Whether the team lacked the skill to overcome a draw, or just didn’t have the killer instinct to finish the opponent off. Dortmund suffered from the lack of a sense of urgency, this is undeniably clear through out the season, but especially in their final match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. As BVB was on the brink of attaining a spot to compete internationally, the club reached yet another draw, allowing Borussia
Mönchengladbach to keep its head above water and remain in the Bundesliga.

Perhaps you can argue that Borussia Mönchengladbach was in dire straights, while BVB was only looking to put icing on a successful season. Regardless, a team capable of achieving what Dortmund did should be able to overcome a 1:1 draw, unless of course there is something missing.

Another way to look at this is obviously the lack of scoring goals when the club absolutely needed it. Alexander Frei led BVB with a total of 12 goals, followed by Valdez, who had 8. Not to discredit either of these players, but it’s clear that Dortmund lacked a star striker, or even a formidable duo. Now with Alexander Frei leaving the Schwarzgelben for FC Basel, BVB is going have to rely on a breakout performance from one of their players, or their summer acquisitions. But this is something I believe BVB will overcome, and as long as they continue to play at the same level as they did last year, we should be in for a treat.

Dortmund’s opponent for the April 19th clash at the Olympistadion is not yet known, but it will be either Bayern Munich or VfL Wolfsburg. The two teams will meet tomorrow to determine who gets to play opposite Borussia in one month’s time.

Petric was the first to find the back of the net, as he got on the end of a ball whipped across the box. It was good positioning by Petric, who had little work to do to put away an easy goal.

Klimowicz doubled the lead just minutes later. After being played through behind the Bremen defense, the former Werder man sent a beautiful curled shot into the upper-left corner and past Tim Wiese to send the Sudtribune into joyful delight.

But the scoring wasn’t done. Three minutes later, Petric scored a superb second to bring us to a resounding 3-0 scoreline with 13 minutes still left to play in the first half.

The second half saw Bremen get a few good chances to pull a goal back, but Marc Ziegler came up big each time to deny the Northerners a foothold in the match. Frustrations were the obvious result and the climax came when Leon Andreasen was sent off nine minutes from time.

The result sees us jump to SECOND IN THE LEAGUE, with only Bayern ahead of us by one point.

Anyway, Dortmund had another match today. The opponent was lowly Hansa Rostock, who are bringing up the rear in the Bundesliga. Should be a huge win, right? Wrong. Rostock played very well at home and, in all honesty, were unlucky not to at least get a point out of this. But Giovanni Federico scored in the 76th minute and it held up to give us our second win in a row.

Ziegler was again in goal for Dortmund, with Dede, Wörns, Brzenska, and Degen in the back. Kringe, Tinga, Kuba, and Federico were the midfielders; Klimowicz and Valdez were paired up top.

Go back and read that lineup again. Do you see why it lead to another BVB win? It is because Wörns and Kovac weren’t the central pair in defense. Honestly, these two suck together and should never be playing on the field at the same time ever again.

Anyway, Federico assumed Mladen Petric’s usual role at the top of the diamond in midfield (or the “hanging striker” role) and did quite well. And by well, I mean he scored the winner.

Whatever. I can’t complain too much. It’s another win for Dortmund and the climb up the table continues.

Dortmund were active from the start, seeing multiple chances go awry down the left flank. A shot that fired off the post also characterized a “missed chance” kind of half.

But after multiple missed opportunities, Florian Kringe finally put BVB ahead with a wonderful goal in the 44th minute.

After a corner kick was cleared out of the box, Kringe flicked the ball into the air and volleyed home from long range to give us a 1-0 halftime lead. A great goal indeed.

On the other side of the break, Diego Klimowicz scored in the 70th minute to double the lead. The Argentine’s shot was unstoppable, as it curled into the far post. Another great goal for Dortmund.

But there was still another goal to be had.

As the Sudtribune was serenading the boys for a match well played, Delron Buckley whipped in a cross from the left flank for Klimowicz, who forcefully headed past the keeper to make it a decisive 3-0.

Well done, boys. Well done.

Yes, for the second week in a row, Dortmund have absolutely embarrassed themselves. Schalke completely dominated and ran out 4-1 winners in the first Revier Derby of the season. Bordon, Pander, Asamoah and Kuranyi all scored for Schalke, while Nelson Valdez got our only goal. Unbelievable.

We looked stupid from the get-go. Schalke nearly scored just under two minutes into the match but the crossbar saved us from an embarrassing opening. But it didn’t matter. Bordon headed one in on 11 minutes, Pander curled home a free kick 20 minutes later, Asamoah’s header flew past Weidenfeller in the 59th, and Kuranyi scored his 12 minutes from time. Valdez’s goal came in the 66th minute, but it really was too little too late by then.

The result sees us drop to the absolute bottom of the Bundesliga table. We’ve got zero points with two goals for and seven against in two matches played. That’s just completely unacceptable. Dortmund had no heart or desire today and it certainly showed. If we don’t beat Cottbus next Saturday, Doll should seriously consider lining up some job interviews.

This crap has to end.